Strategic Advantage

Our Strategic Advantage

A major center for intermodal transportation and industrial development, the Port of Brownsville is the only deepwater seaport directly on the U.S./Mexico border. Opened in 1936, at the southernmost tip of Texas and connected to the Gulf of Mexico by a 17-mile-long ship channel, the Port of Brownsville is also the largest land-owning public port authority in the nation with approximately 40,000 acres.

As a bulk and break bulk commodity port, the Port of Brownsville has developed a versatile marine terminal operation for both liquid and dry cargoes. Petroleum products, diesel, heavy naphta, steel bulk materials, ores, scrap, sand, windmill components, and limestone are some of the many commodities handled here.

The Port of Brownsville is recognized worldwide as the premier U.S. port for ship recycling and is home to the largest U.S. fabricator of offshore drilling platforms. Other services found at the port include bulk terminaling for liquids, break bulk heavy lift in project cargo, steel fabrication, storage, crane services, towing and tug services among others.

Facilities

Businesses use our exceptional facilities to transport cargo to markets around the world.

Approximately40,000
acres of land

1+ millionsq. ft.
covered storage3+ millionsq. ft.
open storage

5 liquid cargo docks13 cargo docks

Main channel depth

The Brownsville Ship Channel has a current design depth of 42 feet. The Turning Basin, has a current design depth of 36 feet and a width of 1,200 feet. The Port of Brownsville has received full congressional authorization to deepen its channel to 52 feet.

Land available for development

The port owns approximately 40,000 acres (16,187 hectares) of land available for development. Developed and undeveloped sites are available in the port’s Turning Basin for cargo facilities, industrial sites, expansion, relocation, manufacturing, greenfield projects, and more.

Distribution and Logistics

The Port of Brownsville offers multiple modes of transportation, including ocean-going vessels, all major U.S. and Mexican truck lines, rail service, barge service via the U.S. Intracoastal and Inland Waterway System, pipeline access to U.S. and Mexican terminals, and air freight service at the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport.

Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

The port is part of the M-10 and M-69 Marine Highway corridors. This provides shippers economical options of transporting cargo with service routes from the Port of Brownsville along designated marine highways, and the U.S. Intracoastal Waterway.

Overweight corridor

To facilitate the movement of cargo to and from Mexico, the Port of Brownsville issues permits online to shippers allowing them to load trucks to the legal weight limits of Mexico. This provides the most efficient and cost-effective movement of cargo by trucks to destinations in Mexico, eliminating double handling.

45 miles of on-port rail

The Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railway (BRG) provides efficient and reliable rail service to all businesses at the Port of Brownsville. The BRG offers direct interchange with UP, BNSF and the KCSM. KCSM serves as UP’s intermediate switch to and from Mexico. In 2014, the port signed a strategic partnership with OmniTRAX to operate BRG and develop the GEOTRAC Industrial Hub, an industrial park featuring more than 1,400 acres of land suitable for light and heavy manufacturing, logistics, energy services, technology development and export/import warehousing.

Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 62

The Port of Brownsville is the grantee for Foreign Trade Zone No. 62 and offers sites at the port, Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport, Valley International Airport, Harlingen Industrial Park and Airpark, NAFTA Industrial Park and FINSA Industrial Park at Los Indios. Zone status is available at any of the port’s properties. FTZ No. 62 is ranked in the top three FTZs in the United States for value of exported cargo.

Best in the U.S. 2015

* Foreign Trade Zone No. 62 is ranked No. 2 in the nation for the value of exports

* Ranked No. 21 overall among all FTZs in the nation for the value of imports